The scene of Sidon drowning in waste has repeated itself for the past two years. Overflowing garbage bins line the streets. Foul odors spread across the city, negatively impacting the health of residents in Sidon and surrounding areas.
The company IBC SAL has operated the Sidon waste treatment plant for nearly 13 years. During this period, environmental conditions in the city have deteriorated, and garbage has become a permanent resident besieging the population. Such a reality would not have come to be without legal violations and negligence that have led to a frightening situation.
To this day, the plant has not obtained an operating license from the Ministry of Industry. A license for its construction was issued (now expired) on December 17, 2013, under Decision No. 4147. The company was officially registered in the records of the Lebanese state on January 28, 2016, under number 5006413, despite being “officially contracted” by the Council of Ministers in 2012, meaning it was built in violation of regulations.
Foreign shareholders make up approximately 86 percent of the company, most of them Saudis, which violates Lebanese commercial law stipulating that Lebanese nationals must constitute at least one-third of the company’s board of directors.
The plant was constructed on the seafront south of Sidon, near a river and underground water wells. According to documents obtained by ARIJ, both the Lebanese Ministries of Environment and Industry repeatedly requested environmental impact assessments on groundwater and on-site materials. It was revealed that the plant had not conducted an environmental impact study prior to its establishment, nor had it issued any periodic reports throughout its years of operation. The ministries also requested detailed data on how the Sidon facility operates and the nature of the materials it produces and sells.
A meeting record issued by the Ministry of Environment in 2019, attended by a ministry representative, activists, and stakeholders, noted that the plant “only responds on paper in some matters.” It had violated the ministry engineer’s recommendation to temporarily landfill waste residues and had instead turned them into a permanent dump. The record also mentioned “suspicions of collusion” with municipal authorities. The municipality granted ownership of the land, which is public maritime property, to the plant, and awarded it the contract despite its “illegitimacy.” No response was received from the Sidon Municipality to these “accusations,” despite attempts to reach them via phone, fax, and email.
According to field inspections documented in various reports, the facility houses equipment, machinery, generators, treatment stations, an anaerobic digester, belts, and valves. All these devices are either malfunctioning, broken, or not operating efficiently. The facility’s corridors are contaminated with leachate, garbage is scattered everywhere, and certain sections are sealed off.
All these findings raise an urgent question: How has IBC SAL been able to operate the plant exclusively for all these years without being held accountable, unless it enjoys political backing and financial benefit for those involved?
Official Negligence
Despite all these facts, which confirm legal and environmental violations, some ministers, MPs, and Sidon Municipality employees have stated they are “uncertain about any pollution caused by the plant.” Pollution is often attributed to other causes, such as the malfunctioning of the wastewater treatment plant or the inaccuracy of studies, among other reasons.
To document the Sidon plant’s violations and the ongoing environmental pollution it causes, this report is supported by numerous documents accompanied by field inspection records from representatives of the Ministries of Environment and Industry, conducted over several years and across different seasons.
During the production of this report, we attempted multiple times to contact then-Minister of Environment Nasser Yassin via phone and email, but he did not respond to questions, accusations, or violations concerning the plant. He merely noted that he had “transferred the file to the relevant department, as he was not familiar with the details.”
Documentation of Violations
A set of documents issued between 2021 and 2024 show the accumulation of waste around and inside the Sidon plant, recurring fires, and multiple attempts to restart the facility. Older documents, dated between 2016 and 2019, indicate a decline in the center’s operational capacity and deviation from its original plans, along with the beginning of residue accumulation.
While there were genuine efforts in 2019 to resolve the plant’s issues and conduct studies and tests—as noted in some 2018 and 2019 reports—these efforts contradict other reports backed by figures and evidence that implicate the plant’s management.
Taken together, these findings point to the presence of a “supporting entity” behind this facility. According to the people of Sidon, only one authority could have convinced the Saudis to invest in this project: the city’s MPs in parliament, Bahiyyaa Hariri and Fouad Sanioura. Alongside them was Mohammad Al-Saudi, who served as mayor from 2010 to 2023, the period during which most legal and environmental violations occurred. This was accompanied by efforts to silence environmental activists and a media blackout surrounding the legal and ecological problems linked to the Sidon plant.
Unreliable Studies
We found no credible governmental study assessing the environmental impact of the plant. Thus, we relied on official documents and statements from environmental and public health experts to document its environmental footprint. It became evident that the plant has not produced any high-quality outputs or recycled materials that could be commercially reused. Additionally, a towering heap of waste sits nearby, and simply passing by it can cause nausea and choking.
The plant is located on the coast south of Sidon and contaminates four water sources: the sea, the Siniq River, underground wells, and the lake inside the facility. During diving expeditions conducted by the NGOs “Greenpeace MENA” in 2014 and “No Corruption” in 2017, hundreds of tons of waste were discovered. These included clothing mannequins, car tires, electronic waste, and household and medical refuse, in addition to long-lasting materials like iron, glass, wood, fabric, and plastic. Sea currents had carried this waste from south to north, dispersing it throughout the seabed. Waves later pushed some of it back to other coastal areas, while some of it got trapped between rocks, forming frightening mounds of garbage.
According to Dr. Joanna Doummar, head of the Earth Sciences Department at the American University of Beirut, all these conditions have made coastal cities north of Sidon vulnerable to water and beach pollution.
“The Most Polluted in Lebanon”
Some of the documents obtained by ARIJ emphasized the danger of the lake (basin) located within the plant’s premises, describing it as “the most polluted place in Lebanon.” According to engineer and environmental activist Mohammad Al-Majzoub, the lake was formed when the sea was backfilled to bury the old “garbage mountain,” creating a plot of about 50,000 square meters.
The documents indicate that the lake receives toxic chemicals, tannery waste, and sewage. The company NTCC, which collects garbage from Sidon’s street bins and transports it to the plant, had been dumping waste into the lake on a daily basis.
Experts and specialists we interviewed during the investigation said the plant uses the lake “to dispose of everything, including medical waste and residues, which has led to the release of foul odors,” according to field reports from 2016.
The Lebanese Ministry of Environment requested in a 2019 meeting record that the lake’s water be tested to determine its environmental impact on the underground wells and insisted on examining the lakebed. However, no documented results were found in response to this request. Al-Majzoub confirmed the same, stating, “There was a serious decision to eliminate the lake that year by filling it in, without any consideration for the fate of the polluted water. But the project, which cost 9 billion Lebanese pounds (approximately 6 million U.S. dollars at the time), was handed over to the Higher Relief Commission, for reasons still unclear. It was never implemented due to political, economic, and security events in 2019.”
He added, “The project funding stopped at that time. The contractor managed to fill part of the lake with what little money was available… and the plan to bury the lake remained under consideration by the municipality until today as a way to dump the currently accumulating waste in Sidon. Thanks to our efforts and the support of the Ministry of Environment, this decision was halted.”
Siniq River
Regarding the Siniq River, which is located south of the plant and flows from villages east of Sidon before emptying into the sea to the south, ARIJ obtained a video shared by a local activist showing the plant disposing of toxic chemical sediments into the river, which then carries them into the sea.
Dr. Joanna Doummar noted a “change in the river’s water color.” She added, “Scientifically, water moves northward, but due to the direct dumping of waste into the river, this practice may have contributed to the pollution.” She also emphasized the need to test the river water to confirm concentrations of harmful substances.
A 2019 document confirmed increased pollution in the river. Mohammad Al-Saudi, Sidon’s mayor at the time, attributed the cause to a malfunction in the sewage system, which leaked into the river.
According to Dr. Doummar, head of the Earth Sciences Department at the American University of Beirut, maps show that marine backfilling narrowed the river’s northern mouth to the sea, causing a rise in water levels along its banks. This has contributed to its altered shape and coastal erosion. She warned of the effects on “fish stocks and biodiversity in Sidon and the cities to its north.”
Air Pollution
Two reports obtained by ARIJ noted repeated fires at the dump. One confirmed waste incineration on land adjacent to the Sidon plant. Other documents highlighted the danger of exposed waste releasing toxic gases such as methane, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide. These gases negatively affect the nervous and respiratory systems.
Some documents noted that foul odors have surrounded the plant since its inception, worsening over the years. They also cited the malfunction of protective filters inside the facility.
According to several reports, inhaling these gases causes symptoms like shortness of breath, allergies, coughing, dizziness, headaches, and nausea. Dr. Salah Zein Al-Din, director of the American University of Beirut Medical Center and a respiratory specialist, confirmed that these emissions exacerbate the conditions of people with lung diseases such as asthma, fibrosis, and allergies, and hasten respiratory illnesses in those with genetic predispositions or cancer.
Soil Pollution
Scientific documents and reports obtained by ARIJ revealed that the waste next to the plant produces leachate during decomposition. This can create pools containing elements like mercury, lead, acidic water, microplastics, and other pollutants. These substances may interact, forming new toxic compounds.
The reports also mentioned the presence of rodents, bacteria, and toxic insects, along with dust and ash from crushers and other machinery inside the plant.
Waste Accumulation
The sorting of waste at the plant is intended to produce organic materials used in anaerobic digestion, converting organic waste into agricultural compost. The process also produces methane gas for electricity generation and recyclable plastic. Additionally, wood, paper, and textiles are meant to be burned and converted into alternative fuel known as RDF. According to original plans, there should be no residues—unprocessed or unusable waste typically designated for landfilling.
However, documents showed that compost production failed, and the material was discarded. Dr. Doummar attributed this to “the presence of oxygen and inorganic waste in the digesters due to poor sorting, such as textiles.”
As for plastics, the recycling plant was shut down, and most plastic waste no longer reached the center. ARIJ recorded trucks collecting waste from roadside dumps, but their origin remained unknown.
Given all this, the plant’s current outputs can be described as nothing more than “open-air waste accumulation,” polluting the environment and distorting the landscape.
Civil Society Response
Engineer Mohammad Dandachli, head of the administrative board of Raise Your Voice, an association which focuses on public issues in Sidon, said that everyone initially supported the Sidon plant due to the severe suffering caused by the old garbage mountain. But after reviewing its plans and contracts, the project’s legal violations became evident.
He explained, “Initially, we discovered that the land the facility was built on was public maritime property, which contradicts the law.”
Dandachli said the municipality justified land ownership by claiming the plant would treat around 200 tons of Sidon’s waste daily for free. But surprisingly, a cabinet decree revealed that the plant was charging about $95 per ton, violating the plan of free treatment.
He added, “The plant violated its license, which stated it would not incinerate or bury waste. Yet, we were surprised when the municipality requested permission from the Ministry of Public Works to use adjacent land to dispose of residues and convert it into a landfill. It instead became an unsanitary dump, prompting us to take to the streets in 2015 and 2016 to protest peacefully against this reality.”
Raise Your Voice filed a lawsuit with the State Shura Council against Sidon Municipality and the Lebanese state on November 20, 2017, citing legal and environmental violations.
However, the council rejected the case five years later, arguing that the activists did not live within one kilometer of the plant. This, despite the fact that the case concerned gradually eroding public maritime property and was directly tied to the environmental protection principles outlined in Law 444 of 2002, according to Dandachli.
Operational Shutdown Phase
According to documents, the plant ceased operations when management changed in 2021. General Manager Nabil Zantout was dismissed in June, and Ahmad Al-Sayed was appointed in August of the same year.
The plant remained inactive throughout this period, causing waste to pile up to 40,000 tons. Technical inspections later revealed multiple equipment breakdowns and increased waste accumulation on land adjacent to the plant.
To restart the plant and purchase necessary supplies, a 2022 technical assessment by the Ministry of Environment, conducted by a World Bank expert, estimated the cost at $863,000.
However, instead of implementing these recommendations, the plant was fully shut down in January 2023. NTCC stopped collecting waste when its contract expired, and Sidon was buried in garbage for months until a new contract was issued to NTCC through a mid-2024 tender.
Hamzeh Al-Maghrabi, a shareholder and co-founder of IBC SAL, said the plant’s decline was due to its failure to follow scientifically grounded plans for effective waste treatment. He added, “We had agreed with the municipality that waste would be collected within four hours because organic matter decomposes quickly in the open air, reducing productivity.”
Instead of collecting waste directly from its source, bins were placed on public roads containing mixed waste. This waste would decompose, releasing foul odors that attracted insects and cats, violating basic environmental safety standards, according to Al-Maghrabi.
The operating company’s failure to implement technical and environmental standards makes it responsible for compensating affected residents—especially those living near the plant. The company must also be held accountable for resolving the crisis, which has led to the return of the “garbage mountain.”
Attempts to Correct the Situation
In early 2024, Sidon’s mayor, Dr. Hazem Badih, issued a decree demanding the plant take serious steps to address the city’s mounting waste crisis. Six months later, he released another statement praising the management’s improvements, thanking the committee and administration for their efforts, and affirming that the plant was “on the right track.”
In February 2025, Sidon Municipality issued a memo stating it had conducted dozens of field visits to the plant, resulting in several recommendations to improve its operations. However, the memo also noted that the plant’s administration had failed to adhere to the scheduled timeline for implementing the improvement plan, worsening the waste crisis in the city.
Wafiq Al-Houari, a journalist and community activist in Sidon, said the plant is incapable of executing the “reform plan” for several reasons: “It is not registered with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, so it cannot purchase equipment. Secondly, it lacks sufficient personnel—its workforce dropped from 450 employees to just about 60.”
He added, “The plans do not address the waste accumulated inside and around the plant, nor how to remove it.”
Referring to the Ministry of Environment’s report and the French company’s technical evaluation, Al-Houari said the plant needs complete reconstruction, which would take a year and cost about $9 million.
This report was produced with support from ARIJ.
